About Rob Dixon

Together with his wife Amy, Rob parents four amazing kids in Clovis, California. For the last 18 years, he has worked in campus ministry, helping college students figure out life with Jesus. He recently completed a Doctor of Missiology program through Fuller Theological Seminary, and he blogs regularly on male privilege at challengingtertullian.com. In his free time, you’ll find Rob out on a long run.

Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.”

There it is: “[Paul’s} letters contain some things that are hard to understand.” And God’s people said, AMEN.

Of course, we’re not certain which Pauline teachings Peter had in mind, but it seems like there’s a good chance he was talking about passages like 1 Timothy 2:8-15.

Like most kids, our children love their candy. A relatively rare treat in our house, every piece of candy is something to be cherished, savored, and, above all else, hidden from your siblings. I mean, God forbid your older brother finds your hidden stash of Jolly Ranchers!

I think a lot of us view power in a similar way. I’m talking about social power, like who has authority, who exercises leadership and who commands attention in a given situation. As with my kids and their candy, in our guts, we see power as something to be guarded and kept safe, under lock and key. Over the last several years I’ve been wrestling with what to do with the social power that culture gives me as a man, and my conclusion is this:

Out of reverence for Jesus, I am to release my socially-granted power so that others, particularly women, may thrive.

Recently, a friend mentioned his pastor’s habit of occasionally peppering his sermons with gender-based jokes. You know what I mean, the quips about women shopping, or men hunting, or the woman “wearing the pants” in the marriage, or about blonde women being ditzy and men being emotionally distant. And maybe a million more. My friend wanted to know my thoughts on this brand of humor. Here’s what I think: If you’re in Christian leadership, and you find yourself with a microphone in hand in front of a room full of people waiting on your every word, do everything you can to avoid using stereotypical gender jokes.